Beyond Strange Love
by Cynthia Dysis
Summary: 13 years in the future Sarah is plauged by strange dreams when Jareth suddenly brings her back to the Underground to remember her past life, and her future destiny. Because without her, both worlds may cease to exist.
1. Dreams and Visions

AN: This is my first Labyrinth fan fic. I've wanted to write one for a while, but I didn't know if anyone would like the idea I had. I still don't know if you guys will. This is a lot darker than a lot of the fan fics I've seen, and has a lot of religious belifes (not my own) that are not really mainstream. Please read and respond. :) And thanks to Scattered Logic for answering my questions about my first fic. :)  
  
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Beyond Strange Love By: Cynthia Dysis  
  
Chapter One: Dreams Are Here Again  
  
"I want you to come with me"........  
  
The voice whispered, softly, seductively...  
  
"I want you to come with me"......  
  
Again, that voice like warm liquid sliding through her bones, calling for her.it wanted her...needed her...  
  
"Come with me."  
  
She smiled in her sleep, stretched and rolled onto her stomach, the syrupy voice echoing in her head. She could feel it's warm breath against her ear and cheek, making her flush with pleasure.  
  
Suddenly she was looking up into a pair of soft blue eyes ... no, wait, one blue and one a soft chocolate brown. Those eyes, they were so familiar.... Then she was looking at a mouth; perfect white teeth, slightly pointed, and soft lips that held the slightest hint of a smirk on then.... those inviting lips...  
  
"Come with me."  
  
She felt warm and heavy; everything around her felt soft and fuzzy.... she felt herself smile and take a slender hand, which pulled her towards these eyes, that mouth. For the briefest of moments she was enveloped in pure, warm light; the safest feeling she had ever known....  
  
Suddenly she felt herself being ripped away from it, suddenly everything was hard and cold. She felt a wind come up and felt it rip through her. God it hurt! Was it supposed to hurt? She thought she was only dreaming, it's not supposed to hurt in a dream is it? She felt dizzy, she felt like she was going to be sick.... something warm and sticky was running down her face, into her eyes ... blood? Why was she bleeding? What was happening?  
  
She heard someone scream, a cry of pain and sadness and anguish. It sent a shiver through her, it made her want to soothe whoever was in so much pain. The mouth, the eyes! It had been them screaming! She felt herself screaming in fear, panic. The pain, it felt like someone was ripping her lungs out and tearing her open. She could feel herself falling...falling.... She looked around her ... why was she falling? She had wings. she wasn't supposed to fall... Oh, but then she saw ... her wings were matted with blood...and all her feathers were gone, bones sticking out at sickening angles... She turned away, thinking she would be sick ... Looking up, she threw her hands above her head; it felt like her feet were being sucked down, down into oblivion. Above her, she saw clouds swirling over her. At the very top, far far away, was a patch of blue; and someone (the eyes? the mouth?) was standing there, screaming. then they were falling, tumbling down as well, but still far above her... She looked down and saw the ground rising up to meet her ... Wait, it wasn't the ground, it was... water? It had something on it ... something brown reaching and growing from it's depths...thorns? Thorn bushes in the sea? She heard herself screaming, she felt her lungs burning with the force of it: panic, fear, horror, all of the emotions running through her... And, oh God oh God the ground was rising!! The sea was almost there! Here she went...it was coming....  
  
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With a scream Sarah Williams shot up in bed. 'Another dream' she thought, her mind racing from the adrenaline rush it had caused her. She was covered in sweat even though it was the middle of September, her hair soaked, her nightgown clinging to her. Sitting on the side of the bed she caught her breath for a moment, her heart racing in her rib cage...  
  
'Why did it seem so real? And who was that person? Why was I there? Why did I feel like I knew them?'  
  
Holding onto her bedpost she stood up and made her way down the hall of her apartment to her bathroom. She had been living here 5 years now, she could walk through this place in the middle of the night and make her way around it blindfolded if she had too.  
  
Reaching the bathroom she pushed the shower curtain into the tub and turned the water to warm. Pulling her sticky, sweaty nightgown over her head she threw it in the dirty clothes hamper in the corner and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair hung limply, wet from sweat, her eyes bloodshot, her skin pale. 'Damn I look like hell...' Between her breast hung a silver pendant, a tiny spoon. Smiling she touched the tip of her finger to it... a gift from her grandmother when she graduated high school.  
  
Being Greek her grandmother had used this spoon to predict the future...as did her mother before her, and her mother before that ... and now it was Sarah's. She hadn't figured out how to predict anything with it yet; but even still, she never took it off.  
  
Pulling her hair back behind her shoulder and pulling the shower plug in the tub she hopped in, letting the warm spray hit her back and shoulders before it rolled down her head, relaxing her and clearing her mind. Twenty minutes later she emerged from the bathroom wearing a fresh nightgown and feeling pleasantly clean. Silently she padded back down the hall to her bedroom.  
  
Picking up a bottle from her nightstand she opened it and shook out three blue pills, popped them into her mouth, then took a sip of water from the glass on her nightstand. 'I'm going to have to get Dr. Stone to up my prescription if these dreams keep happening...'  
  
The sedatives working in, Sarah's legs began to feel like jelly and her head because light. Pulling back the covers she crawled into bed, pulling the sheet up around her. Before she drifted off into a murky sleep she remembered something ... something she had been pushing to the back of her mind since she woke from her earlier nightmare. A name she'd been trying to forget since the dreams started 3 months ago... a name that went with a pair of mismatched eyes and a sensual mouth...  
  
"Jareth."  
  
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In another dimension, in a land know as the Underground, the Goblin King sat on his thrown. One leg crossed casually over the other, his chin resting on his hand, the other tapping a walking stick against his thigh. Before him two of his subjects were arguing over the subject of a stolen cow. One goblin said that he had won it in a bet, while the other goblin said that it had been stolen. The cow had obviously been won in the bet, and its previous owner was just sore on having lost a piece of his livestock.  
  
Jareth was bored.  
  
He had spent many of his days over the past 13 years bored... and alone. With a wave of his hand he dismissed his subjects, telling the owner of the cow that he had lost it and if he couldn't gamble better, he should not bet in the first place. The goblins began to break up and a mix of murmurs and shuffles could be heard making its way out of the thrown room.  
  
Producing a glass crystal in his hand Jareth rolled it lazily back and forth, allowing it to slide up one of his elegantly gloved hands and down the other, spinning and twirling it in a graceful manner. But he wasn't paying attention to it. He was thinking about something else. Someone else. The same person he had tortured himself over all these years....  
  
Smooth skin... a cascading waterfall of rich dark brown hair and the most amazing set of green eyes he had ever seen... so full of life, of passion.... After all those centuries they still held the life in them he remembered and had longed for since the beginning of time.  
  
When she had first come to him he almost wept with the release of it all.... and then it became apparent that she remembered nothing. To her, he was just the villain. The bad guy, who had stolen her baby brother, wished to turn him into a goblin and subsequently keep him there in the Underground. For him, her eyes held no warmth ... except once, under the power of a peach, in the middle of a ballroom ... she had looked at him and he thought maybe, just maybe, she remembered....  
  
But she had not. In the end he had given himself to her, did everything but beg she to stay with him ... he offered her everything he knew she wanted, and she had refused him. Eons of waiting for her and she had dismissed him, turned away.  
  
He had, for the longest time, he thought he would die ... that his heart, what was left of it, was decaying inside of his body. But he could not be mad at her.... after all, she had remembered nothing. No memories had surfaced in her 15 year old brain of who she really was. Who he really was. There had not been enough time to tell her, to try to make her see.... and he had lost her. Then everyday after that he wallowed in a pile of depression, his heart wanting something he might never posses again. She might not even remember him now... And he might have to wait forever again to just feel the slightest glimmer of her presence...  
  
'Jareth...'  
  
He stopped. His heart pounded in his chest. For the briefest of moments he thought he had heard her.... she had said his name, barely a whisper. Had he heard right? He was sure that he had...... But, if she remembered him... if she said his name. that meant.  
  
As quickly as he could he called upon another crystal, and demanded to see Sarah. And there she was...... 13 years older but there she was! He held the crystal as if it were the most delicate, precious thing in the world, and gazed at her... her dark brown hair spread out around her, spilling over the side of her bed, the line of her neck... her soft, plush mouth that was slightly parted in her sleep.... he could see the outline of her form in the covers, her curves that had not been there the last time he laid eyes on her....her long legs... one foot peeking out from beneath the comforter.... He wanted to weep. After all these years she still remembered him, and by saying his name had given him the power to call up the magic to see her.  
  
The wheels in his head began to turn and he began to think... what did she remembered? Anything? Did she want to come back and not know how? Or did she remember nothing? Was it merely a coincidence she had whispered his name? Then with sudden clarity he knew what he had to do, now that he could. He would bring her back to the Underworld. He would make her remember! The Gate was becoming more than he could control on his own. Each year, his power grew weaker ... and he needed her. This was her destiny, to be with him. This much he knew. And if she didn't soon remember all she should... He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. She would remember.  
  
Slowly his lips curved up into a smile, his hands caressing the crystal in which her form lay. 'Soon love.' he thought. 'Soon we'll be together. You'll be here. You'll remember.' His look turned darker for a moment, his eyes swirling into a dark blue and brown.  
  
'I'll make you remember.' 


	2. Shattered Days Are Here Again

AN: Another chapter. Didn't take long to get this one out, so hopefully the rest will come just as quickly. Hope you all enjoy. :) And a HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed. :)  
  
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Beyond Strange Love by: Cynthia Dysis  
  
Chapter Two: Shattered Days Are Here Again  
  
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP  
  
Sarah rolled over and smacked the alarm clock off the night stand with the back of her hand, causing it fly against the wall and hit the floor with a thud.  
  
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP  
  
"Ugh ... great." Crawling out of bed she retrieved the alarm clock and turned it off, replacing it on the nightstand. Stumbling down the stairs Sarah went through her living room into the comfortably sized kitchen.  
  
Her apartment wasn't huge but it was spacious enough, with a large living room complete with skylight, and a bright homey kitchen. The entire flat had wood flooring, which was the only problem, since it always seemed to be cold and Sarah preferred going barefoot. Shuffling into the kitchen she took a coffee mug out of the cabinet above the sink, tossed in two sugars and a hefty tablespoon of instant coffee. She smiled at the picture on it, one of her and Toby last Christmas: Toby as tall as her now, with sandy blonde hair and big blue eyes. She placed it on the counter and turned the water on to boil, then proceeded up stairs to get ready for work.  
  
Walking into her room and opening her closet Sarah removed a white button up shirt, with slight bell sleeves, a pair of black, slightly flared, slacks, and a pair of comfortable pointed knee high boots. Dressing quickly she buttoned up the shirt and pulled on the pants, socks, and boots. She pulled her spoon pendant out from underneath her shirt and sat in front of her vanity. Picking up a soft bristled brush she began combing it through her hair. Closing her eyes Sarah gently worked through all the tangles until it was a waterfall of dark brown hair, shinny and smooth, curling ever so slightly at the end. Next she applied the smallest amount of makeup, hardly any at all, since she could never stand the feeling of something on her face. Standing up, she slide her watch on, a few simple silver bracelets, and a pair of tiny whooped earrings before heading downstairs.  
  
Looking at the clock she added the water to her coffee and a bit of milk and began to drink it as fast as the temperature would allow. She hurriedly stuffed her papers into her briefcase, careful not to spill anything. Briefly the memory of last night's dream wandered into her head ... the flashes of mangled wings, of screams and blood and ... she forced it out of her mind. She needed to get to work and thinking about that wasn't going to help her any. But why did these dreams seem so familiar to her? Maybe she wasn't getting enough sleep. Which reminded her, she needed to take her prescription to Dr. Stone after work today to get a refill. She knew she would get chastised about needing another refill so soon, but she just couldn't seem to sleep well with all these dreams plaguing her.  
  
Gulping down the last of her coffee she placed her cup in the sink and slipped on her black leather jacket, a gift from her father, threw her purse over her shoulder, and picked up her briefcase and car keys. She pause at the front door to make sure she didn't forget anything; then, locking it behind her, proceeded to get into her car, and drive to work. She had a bunch of anxious 5th graders to get to and a play to rehearse.  
  
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"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen..." a tiny voice said.  
  
"How was that Miss. Williams?" the little voice asked.  
  
Sarah smiled. Michelle, 10, was one of the best students she had and reminded Sarah of herself. The girl even resemble Sarah, with her big green eyes and brown hair, which was one of the reasons why Sarah gave her the part of the Princess in the play ... although she wouldn't tell anyone else that.  
  
Sarah taught 5th grade English at Burrow Elementary School in New Haven. After her brief acting career had failed, she decided to go back to college and study English. What was drama except good literature come to life? she thought. After completing her studies and a teaching course she came to New Haven, applied for the job and gotten it. This was her first year working here, and when the principle told her about their annual 5th grade play she was ecstatic.  
  
She had always loved acting, and had looked foreword to the play, brimming with ideas on what they could perform. Mr. Milton, the principle, had other plans however and requested that Sarah have the children perform 'The Labyrinth' for the play. Being a new teacher Sarah knew it wasn't in her best interest to argue with her superiors, so she said nothing. After her adolescence experience with the story she had decided that the entire thing was an elaborate dream her subconscious had made up to help her cope with the pressures of growing up. The realness of the 'dream' had always left her a little uncomfortable, so she had tried as best she could to forget about it; which was a hard thing to do when she was 16 and kept picturing the beautiful Goblin King in all her growing up fantasies... and would be even harder now that she was faced with the task of reliving it everyday.  
  
"That was good Michelle ... but try pausing after you say 'city'. Like this...'I have fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen.'" the words echoed in her head and she remembered the last time she had said them, the look of fear in those pair of stunning mismatched eyes.....  
  
Michelle continued "For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great."  
  
"Wait!" cried another little voice. Now Sarah broke out in grins. She had assigned Zack to be the Goblin King, mainly because he was the only boy with hair blonde enough to fit her idea of what the King should look like. Zack was at least 3 inches shorter than Michelle, which gave the entire play a slightly more innocent, very comical quality. "Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams." Zack held out a crystal paperweight Sarah had swiped from the props closet backstage. Gazing into the reflections in the glass she was reminded again of another crystal.... but those had been much more appealing, more magical... more alluring.  
  
The bell rang before Zack could finish the rest of his lines, and suddenly the classroom was a storm of little bodies, all trying to wiggle their way out of their costumes, trying to put props up, grabbing their little coats and their little bags and running out of the classroom as fast as they could.Michelle and Zack were the last two to leave, having more props to put away than the rest of the children.  
  
"Bye Miss. Williams!" their tiny child voices rang out in unison; then they stepped out into the hallway and were gone.  
  
Bending down Sarah began to pick up the discarded costumes, cloaks, and random props that had missed being put back into the closet. She smiled. The kids really were doing a wonderful job, and she knew the play would be a hit compared to last year. The play the previous year had been The Wizard of Oz and during the lion's entering scene he was supposed to jump from an elevated platform to the side of the stage and bounce onstage. Well, when it came time for the boy to come on he jumped, but somehow took the curtains with him, pulling all of them down in the process and landing on a herd of 3rd graders that were to be the munchkins.  
  
There would be no theatrics like that in Sarah's play. She was new and she wasn't taking a chance of losing her job over a child's play. Glancing at her watch she quickly stuffed the rest of the costumes in the closet and grabbed her purse, jack and briefcase.  
  
She had called Dr. Stone that afternoon at lunch and set an appointment to get her prescription refilled. She would ask him about increasing her dosage as well, because her dreams kept persisting, and she was desperately lacking in sleep. She now had to take three of the pills instead of the prescribed two, which quickly depleted her medication sooner than it should. Walking out of the elementary school, she got into her car, and drove off to Dr. Stone's office.  
  
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"Well Sarah, I wasn't expecting to see you back here so soon. Are there any problems? Any side effects from the medication?" A short, slightly bald, older man asked Sarah.  
  
"Um.well, the medicine was working well for the first month or so... but now the dreams are becoming longer and more persistent, so I was wondering if you could increase my dosage and refills." Sarah asked from her place at on the examining table. Dr. Stone looked up at her from over his glasses, pale blue eyes steady under big, bushy white eyebrows. He was a wonderful doctor as far as Sarah was concerned and she had been coming here ever since she moved to Connecticut after college. Dr. Stone had even taken her when she had no insurance and was a struggling actress, which furthered her conviction that he was one of the few good, honest, MD's around.  
  
"Sarah, you're already taking 30mg of valium. I'll increase your dosage, but only by 5 mg. This way you should be taking 35. Make sure you only take two capsules. I'm also going to give you enough for 2 months. These dreams may be stress induced because of something going on in your life at the moment. I know your busy with the play for the school right now, with your new job, but try and cut down your stress as much as possible. You might be surprised how much it helps." Scribbling on the referral pad he tore the sheet off and gave it to Sarah. Smiling he said "Maybe when the school year is over you should take a vacation. You young people nowadays put way to much stress on yourselves. Maybe a nice getaway is just what you need."  
  
As Sarah got up from the examining table she smiled and shook Dr. Stone's hand. He patted her on the back, "If you have any problems with your medication, you know where my office is." Then he turned down the hallway and into his office.  
  
Walking over to the counter in the hallway, she pulled a pen from her purse and scribbled on the referral sheet. 'Thank God Dr.'s have awful handwriting' she thought as she replaced her pen in her purse and headed towards the pharmacy. She knew Dr. Stone only had his best interest out for her, but what would a couple more milligrams and a few more refills hurt? Besides, he wouldn't have to know. Walking up to the pharmacy counter she slid the referral sheet to the pharmacist on the other side. The young woman picked it up and looked at it.  
  
"Six months worth of valium, at 60mg a dosage from Dr. Stone ma'am?" she asked. Sarah smiled and nodded her head "Yes, that's right."  
  
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Walking into her apartment Sarah tossed her jack and purse on the sofa. She stretched, popping her back, and began walking up the stairs to her room. The wall next to the staircase was covered in pictures of her and her family, she and Toby as they both grew older, clippings from the few acting parts she had. She smiled at the last picture, the most recent one of her and Toby at his high school orientation. She remembered how excited Toby was, to finally reach high school, and she remembered how old she felt when one of the student coordinators called her Ma'am. She realized then how close 28 was to 30, and how she never ever thought she'd be 30. Climbing the last few steps she went down the hall to the main bedroom. The apartment had two others; one stored Sarah's other furniture and doubled as her office, while the other one functioned as a guest room, though it rarely received use. Opening her door she tossed her prescription bag on her bed and sat down, unlacing her knee high boots. Sliding them off she rubbed her sore feet. 'Cursed shoes, don't know why I wear the damned things.' Getting up she went to her vanity and sat down, removing her watch and jewelry. Then, reaching into the drawers she retrieved a silk camisole and underclothes, her brush, and proceeded to the bathroom.  
  
Stepping into the bathroom she sat her things down on the sink and began to fill the tub with warm water. She added a heaping amount of bubble bath and began undressing, tossing her work clothes into the dirty clothes hamper. Sliding down into the bubbly warm water she leaned back against the backboard of the tub.  
  
She loved this tub; it was one of the highlights of the apartment. The bathroom was spacious with black and white tiled flooring, a traditional Victorian sink and faucets, and a lavish border of dark red with hand painted fruits and vines dripping over it. The tub was a marble, free standing work of art. The edges were carved with vines and fruits, the bottom lip protruding and the top lip bowing in then out to give a comfortable curve against the back. The feet were claws grasping gorgeous crystal balls. She had positively drooled when the realtor showed it to her, and it helped her in making her final decision on buying the apartment. Now she soaked luxuriously in her classic tub, the warm water soothing her aching bones and tight muscles. This is just what she needed. Closing her eyes she let her whole body relax, and let her mind wander.  
  
She still had a lot of work to do on the play, and it was only a week away.... she needed to repaint the kitchen... she needed to call home and see how everyone was doing... check the mail... pay off the phone bill...  
  
Her mind began to wander to the one thing that she had been trying not to think about... the dreams. What did they mean? Why was she having them? They had all started three months ago.... She really hadn't thought anything of them at first, they were a little unusual, but she had been known to have weird dreams before. Then they began to become more... real. She could actually feel the person talking to her, could experience emotion in the dream. fear even.  
  
She wanted whoever it was that was talking to her, and it scared the hell out of her. Those eyes and that mouth, the flawless white skin, and the sensual voice. With the eyes and complexion she assumed the man in her dreams had to be blonde. A blonde angel that she yearned for... in the beginning she would wake up wanting that man beside her more than anything else and would spend the rest of the day looking twice at any fair haired man she saw walking the streets. But then the dreams began to take a different turn. Where at first it was just snippets of the man's face and voice, of a feeling of love and happiness, more images started to come to her.... The sensation of fear, of falling, of begin ripped from the arms of him. This last dream was the worst yet, enough to wake her up in a sweat with her heart racing. Enough to make her fear, and make her think that the dream actually was real. that she was going to fall into that bed of thorns and be killed...  
  
The other thing that bothered her was the man's resemblance to another she had once known long ago. His voice.... it was almost the same, although the one in the dream lacked the cold edge that her Goblin King's had. The mouth, with those tiny pointed teeth was the same... and those luminescent eyes that looked at her and read her very soul.... Yes, she had known those eyes. She had dreamed about those eyes before, many times when she was a young girl, in fact. She hated to think that maybe old dreams of the Goblin King were resurfacing, changing because of her more mature mind and age.  
  
After her trip through the Labyrinth she had never looked at any other men and now at 30 she was wondering if she ever would find someone to be with. Oh, she had told herself long ago that her trip to the Labyrinth was a dream... a fantasy her mind had created to help her with growing up. Even still, she had always been extra careful, just in case, by packing her memories and the little red book away. They were in the closet of the extra bedroom now, collecting dust, forgotten by everyone but her.  
  
'No,' she told herself 'This has nothing to do with him... I'm just overly stressed like Dr. Stone said... that's all.' After reassuring herself she laid back in the tub again, letting her mind wander, closing her eyes, relaxing...  
  
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It was so beautiful... she couldn't find words for it; all she could do was stare in pure awe. She was standing in the middle of a vast field filled with flowers...wildflowers... in every shape and color spread out as far as the eye could see... She could feel herself smile and inhale the delicious fragrance deeply. She saw she wore a simple, but gorgeous, white linen dress; and that her feet were bare, as well as her shoulders. She could feel the rich, moist earth beneath her feet, and sense the warmth of the sun against her neck and shoulders. Her vision blurred, allowing her other senses to soar.... she heard the wind running through the grass and flowers, smelled the aroma more deeply than she had smelt anything else in her life, felt everything that touched her, ever blade of grass, every ray of sun... Her feet were carrying her, but she didn't know to where... no harm could befall her while she was here, it was far too beautiful; she simply let them take her where they would. She let her hands glides over the tops of the flowers while she walked, picking some here and there, putting them in her hair, which seemed longer, thicker, more red... Then she came to a small circular clearing in front of a great willow tree... there was a white blanket spread out on the ground and someone...  
  
'Hello Love. '  
  
Oh. it was him... the man... the eyes and the mouth and the voice. And he was here with her. She felt herself smile, walk towards him... She was looking up now, he was at least 4 inches taller than her... she was looking right into those beautiful mismatched eyes, that mouth was saying something softly, but she couldn't hear what... she only saw it smile, that slow sensual smile, then lean down... Oh God, it was leaning down towards her. he was going to kiss her... and she was waiting for it...  
  
It never came... she was suddenly being snatched from him again and thrown through the air....all the same as before...wings, broken, bleeding, falling..... But this time there were flashes, other voices, things were bleeding together....  
  
"I want..."  
  
"I wish..."  
  
"....you to come with me..."  
  
"...the goblins to take you...."  
  
"...come with me...."  
  
"...away..."  
  
"My treasure. come..."  
  
"...right now."  
  
And then it was like a thousand little voices were singing, chanting, and they were all around her but she couldn't hear what they were saying... and the man's voice... she was speaking too... the children wouldn't be quite, she couldn't hear what he was saying... the children...  
  
"Bathe in the silence...... tomb......  
  
....in her hand a... silver.....  
  
...one last dance....the steps of hell.....  
  
....lost children.....know her.....  
  
.....kiss the serpents......twice.....  
  
......shattered days are here again......  
  
....tears...visions....  
  
...thrice times twice......"  
  
All of this while she plummeted downward; the thorns below her plummeting body like before... like before the same bile rising in her throat, the same fear..... and she could hear herself screaming... a bloodcurdling cry... for a moment she felt the first few thorns prick her skin... then blackness... pure blackness... and his voice. his voice over it all...  
  
'I've been so lonely without you.'  
  
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With a cry Sarah sat up in the tub. The water was ice cold, the bubbles long since gone... outside the window she saw it was dark, and wondered how long she had been asleep. This was getting too much! She couldn't even take a bath without these. these nightmares.... attacking her.  
  
Quickly she pulled the plug from the tub and dried herself off... she was shaking, but not because she was cold... The dream, it had been so real... and she had felt the thorns... she had felt them go through her skin for the briefest of moments...  
  
Standing in the bathroom she looked herself over, looking for any scratches, punctures. anything! Then she stopped. 'What the hell am I doing?? It's a dream!! A dream!! It's not real! Oh God I'm losing my mind..." ß #again you started this sentence with single quotes and ended the sentence with double quotes.# Snatching her clothes up she put her pj's on and brushed her hair out, pulling it up in a ponytail. Picking up her brush she went back to her room, still shaking...  
  
Sitting on her bed she tried to collect herself... just breath: in, out, in, out... it was just a dream... picking up her prescription bag from the bed she took out a bottle of pills, stuffing the rest in her nightstand. Then she stopped. Remembering something from her dream... she got up and went down the hallway, pulling her robe around her... going into the spare bedroom she flung the closet open, pulling out boxes and boxes until she got to the one she wanted...pulling it out into the middle of the floor she opened it. Dust coated the outside of it, but inside everything was just as she had left it 13 years ago... the musical doll... the books. stuffed animals... her Escher poster... her toy labyrinth... and a little red book....  
  
Grabbing the book, red leather emblazed in gold on the front with 'The Labyrinth' Sarah sat back on her heels. Flipping through it she skimmed down until she got to what she was looking for. where the princess said she wished the goblins would take the baby boy away... and she remembered when she had said those words...when she had heard the voice in her dreams... 13 hours... a maze... two mismatched eyes...  
  
Putting the book back in the box she crossed the room to her computer desk and, flipping the computer on, opened notepad. It was the file containing the script for the play. She scanned it until she found what she was looking for, then backspacing, typed in something new. 'Goblin King, where ever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me...' Saving the changes, she closed notepad and turned the computer off. She looked at it for a moment... 'I guess you can't be too safe.'  
  
Walking back down the hall she opened her door, removed her robe and laid it on the chair next to her vanity. Walking to her nightstand she opened the bottle of valium, and shook out 2: 60mg. 'No dreams tonight. no more.' she thought, as she swallowed the pink pills. Then, climbing into bed she pulled the covers to her chin, and fell into a dreamless sleep.  
  
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Jareth had refrained all day from spying on Sarah... not from guilt, but because if he had to see her, he would have to have her...  
  
He had thought all day on what he could do to bring her back to the Underground. By law he couldn't forcefully bring her back to him, and besides, even if it were allowed he could not. The Gate was slowly draining the power and magic from his land and teleportation on a whim was out of the question. It was even getting harder for him to carry out his duties are Goblin King, to go Aboveground when a child was wished away... wished away...  
  
He could have someone wish Sarah away! But... who? By the looks of things she no longer lived at home and she spent her company with no one...  
  
'Why my love, ' he thought, 'Are you all alone?'  
  
Producing a crystal he looked into it to see Sarah, typing away on some gray box. She had pulled back... looked at it, then given a nod of satisfaction. Then she went back to her room, where she took something... medicine? And gone to sleep. Jareth watched her. hoping she wasn't sick... What was she doing with that box?  
  
Reaching out with his powers he tapped into the power of the Aboveground, and saw through his minds eye, the room she had been in. On a desk sat the box.... he used his powers to push the button she had used to turn it off... A tiny motor began to run and the machine came to life.  
  
Jareth had heard of these things before, but had never seen of used one. On the screen was something written. Jareth read it. and grinned, a slow devious grin. Looking down at the pad that Sarah had been using he saw it was covered with letters and numbers, and his grin increased even more. Using his powers, he began to change what Sarah had written to fit his own purposes. No, it wouldn't be long he thought, before she's here with me again. Then he would set about the business of showing her who she really was. and what she was meant to do. His world depended on it. 


	3. Wished Away, Taken Back

AN: This one took a little longer, since it is a little longer. ^^ I'm working on chapter 4, so please keep the reviews coming. ^^ I promise I'll keep updating at least every 4 to 5 days at the most. :)  
  
Oh, and in case you didn't know, The Labyrinth, Jareth, and Sarah do not belong to me. Unfortunately. Everyone else though is mine! Mwahahaaa...Erm. Right.  
  
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Beyond Strange Love by Cynthia Dysis  
  
Chapter 3: Wished Away, Taken Back  
  
Sarah sat at her desk in her classroom grading papers. The students were off at lunch, and she had so much paper work she needed to get finished, lunch was the only spare moment she had. She was refreshed this morning, not having any of her usual dreams since the incident in the tub three days ago. She had finally been able to get into her old habit of doing things without feeling drained all day long. Sighing, she made three more X's on one of her students papers. It was a test over 'Great Expectations', where the students had to indentify symbolism, do a character analysis, and quote certain parts of the book. While some had read the book and study, it was obvious that a good deal of the class had not. Sighing she picked up Michelle's paper and smiled. The young girl had beautiful handwriting, and always did exceptionally well on all of her test. Leaning back Sarah began to read the report, pulling her hair out of it's clasps she let it fall back over the back of the chair, and ran her hand through it to smooth out some of the unruly curls. The sun from the window floated in and hit her hair, lighting up the red in it. Running her fingers through it she looked at it.... it seemed to change colors more and more everyday. She remembered when her hair was brown as dirt, and now it could appear completely red if the light hit it just right, and no longer straight, but full of curls... And that wasn't the only thing... her eyes were changing colors too... where once they had been a light hazel brown, they were now almost completely green, just the outer edges remaining a dark brown. Her skin was turning whiter... she had always been fair complicated, but now her skin was white and smooth and flawless. It was like she was turning into someone else.... 'Stop that' she told herself. 'It's just hormones or something.... probably happens to everyone.' Shaking her head she looked down at Michelle's report...  
  
"The main female character is the object of Pip's affection, Estella. She is the most convincing of the female characters in Great Expectations, because she is the most dynamic. Estella is often seen as dark and cruel, she constantly embarrasses and undermines Pip, although he is hopelessly in love with her. Unlike most female main characters, Estella does not embodied kindness, wisdom, and warmth. She is cold, cynical, cruel, and manipulative, which is what makes her such a compelling character. Though all her faults it is always subliminally hidden that Estella possesses a heart which makes her a dynamic part of the story. The readers also feel a certain amount of pity towards Estella, since she has been trained at birth by Miss Havisham to 'break young men's hearts'. Her story is also an ironic one, since Pip envisions her to be everything he wants and cannot have: love, wealth, and a good living. Estella herself is without love as she repeatedly tells Pip she 'has no heart', she is not happy with her life with Miss Havisham, and came from a poorer beginning that even Pip. By the end of the story Estella has matured into a women, and through her damaging childhood and bed marriage to Drummel, she learns to trust her true feelings, thus allowing her to come into her own and be with Pip in the end..."  
  
The rest of the test was the same, all beautifully and eloquently written, no grammatical or spelling errors. With a red felt tipped pen she wrote an A+ on the front of it, and wrote Michelle a little note about how well developed her report was...she had always loved it when she teachers did something like that. 'I never though I'd be doing it though...' she said silently to herself. And she didn't. When she was 18 she had imagined 28 to be so...old. That she would already have established herself on Broadway by that age, that she would have been a successful actress with awards and showstoppers under her belt. With thousands of fans and admirers and a devilishly handsome younger lover...with long golden blonde hair.. who was lean and tall with a slow sensual smile and long delicate fingers...with a voice that could melt butter and make women swoon just at the sound of it...two stunning mismatched eyes.. one a translucent sky blue....and the other a dark, sexual earthy brown, tiny flecks of green peeking out from their depths...  
  
'What the hell am I doing.' she thought, blinked twice and realized she was describing him again. 'Oh damn...' Shaking her head she tried to dislodged the mental picture of him from her minds eye but she just couldn't. An unearthly sensual man clad in those pants were just to much for her willpower to overcome. And then she did something she never did anymore. Blush. 'Oh bloody hell, I'm blushing over some non existent probably most definitely non human imaginary adolescent ideal and his tight breeches! I really need to get out more... probably a warning sign from my body that I need to speed things up so I don't end up some old spencer with 50 cats and still teaching 5th grade drama like Mrs Winston..' At the thought she groaned. Mrs. Winston was her drama teacher when she was in elementary school. Old and constantly smelling of mothballs and sauerkraut, Mrs. Winston was one of the most bizarre people Sarah had met to date. Almost always wearing an overly bright floral dress, which now that she thought about it resembled shower curtains more than clothing, and was always, always, covered in a rainbow assortment of cat hair. She wore think soled shoes and big very faux clunky jewelry, and said words like 'marvelous' and 'darling'. She was always losing her pens and pencils to, but not like most people...setting them down somewhere and forgetting them, having the couch eat them...she had the largest beehive hairdo that Sarah had ever seen as well. She was still sure that it single handily helped in depleting the ozone layer and was positive just by the amount Mrs. Winston used that she should have bought stock in Aqua Net.. It was also the home to Mrs. Winston's writing utensils... she would stick them in her hair, then forget about them, and spend the next ten minutes finding something else to write with, which would also get lost in the mass of blue tinted hair. Sarah always wondered what happened when Mrs. Winston got home and took her hair down. If she was always surprised every night to find a small collection of pens and pencils falling from her head. And what did she do with them after she found them? 'Probably put them somewhere where she would remember them, then forgot them' Sarah mused.  
  
Shaking her head Sarah leaned back in her chair and picked up the next test, and began glancing over it. Groaning she picked up her pen and began making little red X's. 'I guess they can't all be wonderful' she thought. After marking the X's, writing the C, and leaving a little note on the test Sarah stood up and stretched. Lunch was an hour long and she had been sitting their 35 minutes, and she was so stiff! 'Nice, long, hot bath tonight...' a shiver ran down her spine, remembering of what happened the last time she took a long soaking bath. Since then she had been taking short cold showers, afraid of falling asleep again and drowning in the tub. She had also went 3 night with none of her usual dreams, so she was just going to keep up what she was doing now in the hopes that they would just go away. Sighing she sat down in her plush chair and pulled her purse out from under the desk. Reaching in she took out a waterbottle, and a peach. Taking it out she looked at it, turning it over in her hands. 'How ironic' she thought. 'I must have just picked it up by mistake... Shrugging she leaned back and sipped her water... lunch was usually when she relaxed during the day. From her window she had a great view of the woods behind the school, and being mid October everything was a beautiful array of golds, red, purples and oranges. Biting into the peach she titled her head and looked out the window... Ever since then she had had a weakness for peaches. At first she was afraid to eat them, afraid she would fall into another enchanted sleep. But, once she realized she wouldn't, she ate them constantly. Taking another bite she leaned her head back and closed her eyes... she would just relax for a little bit..just a minute...  
  
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There was no one there... everything was black. But there were voices... a multitude of voices.. Everything sounded fuzzy, like it was far away...  
  
'Darling... my treasure...come....'  
'come.....'  
  
The voices in the background grew louder.... she couldn't make out what they were saying but it sounded as if they were chanting something... then, silence. Everything grew still and Sarah felt goosebumps rise on her arms.... then he spoke..  
  
'At last my love, I've been so lonely without you.....'  
  
Sitting up with a start Sarah quickly looked around to take in her surroundings. Seeing she was still in her classroom she gave a sigh of relief. For a moment she thought she might have...... looking at her desk she picks up the remaining half of the peach and threw it in the garbage. 'Ok, no more of those for a while...'  
  
Standing up she smoothed out her dress and pulled her mini jacket up over her shoulders, she was suddenly very chilly. Glancing up at the clock she saw that she had 3 minutes until the lunch bell rang to release the students back to their classes. Picking up the tests she had just graded she walking to the desks in the front of the classroom and began setting each one down at the students desk. She knew the students would want to see what they made as soon as the got back from lunch. After setting the last test down she made her way back to her desk just as the bell was ringing, and the stampede of students made their way back down the hall. Sitting down in her leather desk chair she smiled at the students as they made their way back into the classroom. They had to rehearse the play, and a few students were staying after school to get some extra practice in before the performance tomorrow...  
  
Leaning over the side of her desk Sarah reached into her bag and pulled out the copies of the modified script she had printed out a few days ago. She had changed part of the script due to the dreams she was having.... Remembering back to when she had gone on her little 'trip' to the Underground, and how her first phrase to send Toby away hadn't worked. She had changed the script to that....'Because you never can be to safe...and the last thing I need is for a student to get kidnapped by a strange man in black leather and breeches and glitter.' Shaking her head she sat the scripts down on her desk, and walked to the front of the class to talk to the students about their grades.  
  
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Walking onto the stage in the auditorium Sarah felt like she was home. She had forgotten how much she had missed the stage. The house lights were down and the seats in the auditorium weren't even visible... it would help with the students nervousness if they couldn't see how many people were out in the audience. The whole stage glowed with the overhead lighting, and Sarah thought...'Well, if you can't do drama this is always the next best thing."  
  
Smiling she turned to Michelle behind her, who had asked if she would help her practice her line after school.. "Ok lets work on the scene where the Princess wishes her little brother away to the Goblins. Michelle, you stand left stage I'll stand in as the Goblin King, Zack's part, on offstage right. Ok... Let's go." Walking toward the right front of the stage Sarah watched as Michelle acted out her part perfectly, down the the facial expressions. She was sure this play was going to be a hit and secure her job here, and she just knew that the children's parents were going to love it. She had lost her initial jitters about doing it after a little script changing and the students wonderful response to it. She had some real talent in her class... Michelle and Zack were wonderful... and her stage crew was amazing. So deticated even though they weren't out in the spotlight, painting and creating extraordinary scenes and sets, getting props from everywhere. The enchanted forest set was Sarah favorite, although it was the messiest, with all the glitter the students had used to cover the plywood trees they had constructed. Michelle walked more toward the middle of the stage... towards the baby cradle that had been set up and reached inside to get the 'crying' baby. During the play they would have someone offstage making the crying and cooing noises of the baby prince. Picking the baby up Michelle tried to get it to calm down, to get it to stop crying...from singing to it to rocking it, the baby wouldn't shush up...  
  
"Fine!" Michelle said, holding the baby on her hip. "Do you want a story? Ok... Once.. there was a poor poor Princess, who's stepmother was always mean to her and never let her do anything. She was forced to stay home and take care of her younger baby brother. But the baby was awful, terrible! He made the princess miserable. But what the baby didn't know was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with girl, and he had given her certain powers. The young princess had come close to wishing her little brother away, but never did, because she knew he would be turned into a goblin forever and ever. But one day, when the baby had been particularly mean to her she could stand it no longer.." At this point the baby was supposed to let out a horrible wail, and Michelle scrunched her face up and held the 'baby' out from her. Once it quieted down some she looked at it with distain..  
  
"Oh!" Michelle acted "I...I...I wish..." She let her gaze wander and her eyes unfocused, giving her a faraway look... "I wish that..." Looking back towards her empty hands where the baby would be she said "I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!"  
  
Sarah thought she was going to die. She was going to die right then she knew, a heartattack, that's what the papers would say. She had a heartattack at 28 and died. She knew she had changed the script, she knew she had! And she had saved it. Hadn't she? She was sure she had. So why had Michelle just said... that! Fear gripped at Sarah heart, and she looked frantically around, looking for a hint of black leather, blonde hair, glitter, anything. But everything was as it should be. Michelle had not noticed she reaction so she had kept on acting, and now looked at Sarah for confirmation that she had said she part properly. Blinking, Sarah walked out onstage, looking around the whole time as if someone where going to jump out from the shadows and snatch both of them up. "That...that was wonderful Michelle. Wonderful." Sarah wanted to hurry up and get out of here as soon as possible... part of her was glad too, because it showed that all these years it had only been a dream of hers.. that her worrying and fear had been for nothing... but another neurotic part was still fearful and wanted out of there now, before anything else had a chance to happen.  
  
"You did a great job... how about we call it quits then? You know all your parts and your great. I have no doubts that you'll perform exceptionally well tomorrow." She smiled to mask her uneasiness.  
  
Michelle didn't notice a thing, and just smiled. "Ok Miss Williams! I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class then... and thanks for staying after and helping me with this. It was just really hard to get the feel of it right.. Anyways.. see you tomorrow!" Waving good-bye to Sarah, Michelle walked down the stairs on stage right and into the auditorium to pick up her bookbag. A few minutes later Sarah could hear the double doors in the front close. Standing in the middle of the stage Sarah suddenly felt very venerable. like she wasn't alone.. the darkness of the house light no longer seemed comforting...paranoia creeped it's way into her brain and she looked around again, making sure no one was behind her, no one was in the corners. Walking to the side of the stage she picked up her jacket and slipped it on, picked up her toutbad and purse, and walked offstage 'Your just nervous and jittery' she told herself. 'See? Nothing happened, everything is completely alright, your completely safe, nothing is going to happen..' Walking to the powerbox she began to turn the stage lights off, first stage left, center stage, overhead, and then stage right. Now she stood in the dark of the backstage area, only the green light above the exit door letting off any light. She walked towards it as quickly as she could and pulled out her keys to the auditorium to unlock the door. Dropping the keys she curse and bent down to pick them up. When she did the hairs on the back of her neck stood up...a shiver ran through her spine... she felt sick to her stomach for a moment before she stood up straight again, shaking her head. She kept waiting for someone to come out from the shadows and pounce on her. 'I need to get out of here...' she mused.  
  
Then she heard something hit the floor onstage, as it someone had dropped it from the catwalks above. She heard it roll along the stage. She could see the shadow under the curtain, and it rolled towards her and the exit door. Underneath the curtain rolled a perfect crystals ball, and even though there were no lights on it seemed to glow. Rolling towards her it stopped only when it hit her foot. Sarah stiffed... bending down she picked it up and turned it over in her hand. It was warm... and beautiful.. even though she looked right at it there were no reflections in it... it was just..perfect. She had seen something like this only once before... it had been presented to her, a gift... But no, that wasn't real... that was something she had made up... suddenly she felt dizzy, and she knew she was going to pass out...her knees buckled under her and she started to sink to the floor when she felt a pair of arms reach from behind her and lock around her waist, pulling her upright and squeezing her to something..something warm and hard... she felt something brush her ear.. and then she heard that voice that had haunted her dreams, slow and smooth, that reached down into your bones and melted them...  
  
"Hello Sarah..."  
  
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Jareth had been waiting for three days... what seemed like an eternity for his services to be called upon. He had been restless since he awoke, just waiting for Sarah to be wished away to him, to see her once more, to have her here so he could start the business of making her remember all she had forgotten. When he had spied on her and changed the document on her computer (he had found out after he returned what it was called) he was sure that the set of events had been put into motion, and that she would be wished to him any time. Now it was just occurring to him that it could be weeks before someone got a hold of the document and read this changes he had made to it. 'I've waited an eternity...' he thought, 'I guess a few days more cannot hurt.'  
  
Early in the afternoon he felt the familiar tingling at the back of his mind, letting him know he was needed. He had rushed without a second thought. But it was not Sarah, and he had to carry out the wish with distain, wishing he were somewhere else... Now he sat in the throne room, bored out of his mind, slowly creating crystals and letting them float about, his patience growing shorter by the moment. The fact that the fate of his kingdom waited in the hands of whoever wished Sarah back drove him mad! But he could not go and get Sarah himself... and this was the only way. He was just going to have to wait it out as best he could... Waiting was what he had done for eons now wasn't it? Ever since they had been cast down... ever since she had been taken from him.... Now she would return... now she would take her place next to him... As soon as she remembered. Jareth rubbed his eyes. 'She must remember... everything depends on it. My powers are already weakening... the Gate has already begun to take over part of the Underground... she must remember.'  
  
He let his mind wander... he had not seen Sarah face to face in 13 years... he knew she had changed. Mortals lives were so much shorter than the immortal... they aged so much quicker. He had seen through the crystals that Sarah had grown up psychically into a stunning woman... he had let his eyes drift over her frame while she was sleeping and smiled, she looked more like her true self now than she did when she was younger and they had first met. Her skin was paler, smoother than when she last went through his Labyrinth, and her hair was almost red... its true color. He wondered if she had dyed it, like most mortal women seemed to do, or if it had just changed on it's own accord.... which would mean...He shook his head. There was no point in getting his hopes up. Sarah might not remember anything of her true self, which he was hoping against. Things were going to be hard no matter what, he knew she would not be happy about being brought back here, and then he would be forced to reveal her past to her. He hadn't even begun to think about how he would do that... telling her flat out was out of the question. She wouldn't believe him first of all, and if it did trigger something in her memory she might just think that he put it there, which wouldn't solve anything. Sighing he leaned his head back against the throne and closed his eyes. He hadn't planned any of this out at all... he had no idea what he would do with her once she arrived, or how he would handle the situation. All he knew was that she was coming to him, and that was all that mattered right then. That he had won, had bent the rules to get her back. She was coming home, to him.  
  
And then he felt it again, that familiar tingling sensation in the back of his mind...the tug from some invisible force that told him he was called upon. For the briefest of seconds he felt slightly nauseous, things turned fuzzy, and then black. Then he stood upright, and a smile made it's way slowly across his lips. With a graceful motion of his hand he appeared in his usual attire for this business... black breeches, with black knee- high boots... a black jacket of hard leather, and black breastplate. A long flowing black cape fell behind him, spun from the softest silk, and his talisman hung from his neck, imbedded in his breastplate. Producing a crystal he held it in the palm of his hand, closing his fingers around it and felt it's power and magic running through his body...'Sarah' he thought, and his heart leaped in his chest. Sarah had been wished to him... and now he would be going to claim her, and bring her back where she belonged. He had tricked fate, and now he was in control, and now things would be set right.  
  
Looking into the crystal he saw Sarah, in the dark somewhere... obviously nervous about something... more beautiful than he had imagined her. And she was his. 'My love' he thought, 'at last...' His eyes looked sad for a moment, something swirling deep in their blue and brown depths, before drowning, disappearing. Opening his hand he let the crystal dropped, and it broke into a thousand shards, crystal and glitter swirling all around him. When it settled, the throne room was empty.  
  
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Below the throne room, deep in the heart of the castle, a sound like a thousand dying voices could be heard wailing, screaming. A pair of iron doors glowed red. The Gate grew stronger. The Underground's magic faltered for a moment, and far to the North and entire forest simply disappearing. Beyond it, nothing. Aboveground a child slept in it's bed, their teddy bear tucked under their arm, thumb in their mouth. They dreamed of unicorns, and fairies, and magic. And then, suddenly, they dreamed of nothing. 


	4. Reunion

AN: A big thanks to everyone who's reviewed. It really helps when your writing your first fic. This would have been posted much sooner, but FF.net has been down (again) and I had problems updating (again) ~~;;;;. But, here it is! Also I need someone to help review my chapters before I put them up.... I feel like I could really use someone else's opinion when writing it all. So if anyone is interested please email me. :)  
  
The Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson, but everything else is mine! :)  
  
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Beyond Strange Love by Cynthia Dysis  
  
Chapter 4: Reunion  
  
"Hello Sarah..." whispered a lascivious voice from behind her. She could feel his breath on her neck, his arm around her waist, his chest against her back. 'Oh God Oh God this isn't real it isn't real.....' she kept repeating to herself over and over again, shaking her head, trying to block it out. 'It's not real. I must have fainted, and now I'm dreaming. That's what it has to be, I'm dreaming. He's not real. He's not real.'  
  
Jareth held his arm around Sarah's waist, her back pressed to him, his heart beating. How long had it been since he had touched her? Her soft skin, her tiny frame, her long hair flowing down between them... It was dark in the auditorium, so he couldn't see what color it was...he leaned closer to her, let her hair brush his face. It felt like silk and smelled like wildflowers, just like he remembered. He wanted to weep. He would have if he didn't have a mission to complete, to hurry and get Sarah back to the Underground, to trick fate, to save everyone. That and a weeping Goblin King was probably the last thing Sarah expected, and he didn't want to make things any harder on her than they were already going to be. Wrapping his arms tighter around her waist he waited for her to say something, anything. He had waited to long to hear her voice ... but she was as still and silent as death. Perplexed he looked down at her, and grinned. Her face was a ghostly white, her eyes squeezed shut. She was murmuring something to herself and shaking her head back and forth slightly. Leaning down closer to her ear he spoke in a lowered voice, letting his breath run hot against her neck..."You do know it's rude not to address someone when their talking to you, don't you Sarah?" he asked, one hand turning her around to face him.  
  
Sarah stood there, practically paralyzed with fear, determined to keep her eyes squeezed shut until this all ended. 'Just stay calm and keep your eyes shut, none of this is real, you've just fainted, it's all a dream, it's not real' she whispered to herself over and over. But it felt real. Then she was being turned around, facing him. His hair brushed her cheek, and for the briefest of moments she smelled wildflowers and something else, something she but couldn't quite remember. She had gotten taller since she last saw him, but not by much, her head just reaching his shoulder, under his ears. She clutched her jacket as tight as she could and something else was still in her hand...what was that? 'Oh, damned bloody crystal.' She clutched it until her knuckles turned white, and as much as she wanted to drop it she didn't dare. It would acknowledge that she was aware of what was going on. 'Why couldn't I dream of something else? Why this?' Biting her lip she tried to concentrate on something else, anything, but him. She wouldn't deny that she had thought about this, about him coming back and whisking her away. But it was all only in dreams. She never acknowledged him as a real person...he wasn't. 'He can't be. He's a dream. I made him up. He's not real. I made him up' she lectured to herself.  
  
Jareth just stood there, grinning like a cheshire cat, watching Sarah go through some obvious inner struggle. Her nose was scrunched up as were her eyes. With only the green light of the exit, her features were half masked in shadow, but he knew how beautiful she was. She had grown taller since he last saw her. There were slight lines around the edges of her eyes, her hair was longer and more with more curls, but she still was breathtaking. He looked down at her hand, and saw the crystal their, in a death grip. Her knuckles were turning white, her fingernails digging into her palm. Titling his head he brought one hand up to her face and traced a single finger down her cheek.  
  
"Why do you not address my presence Sarah? I'm not going anywhere, surely you know that. we will stand here all night if we have too." Looking her over he saw he shiver. From his touch? The cold? Looking her over he noticed a silver pendant hanging around her neck, but it was to dark to tell what it was. She whispered something barely audible. 'Damn', he had missed it.  
  
"Sarah, you will have to speak up. Unless of course you want me to get closer..." he pulled her snugly against him, and leaned his face down close to hers. Now she did shiver. Her lips trembled and she took a deep breath, her eyes still squeezed shut.  
  
"Your not real" she said in a whispery voice.  
  
To this he could only laugh, and he pulled her closer to him, his voice teasing as he brushed her hair out of her face. "I assure you Sarah, that I am quite real. If you do not believe me I would be more than happy to show you..." Leaning down he lowered his face to hers, his inches mer millimeters away from hers ... he could feel her breath on his face, almost taste her....  
  
"No!" she cried and pushed away from him abruptly, stumbling backwards, and falling ungracefully on her rear-end with a thump. She opened her eyes and looked around her, expecting to be alone now, but looked down and saw the crystal still in her hands. She simply stared at it. 'I will not look at him, I will not look at him, I will not look at him' she repeated over and over to herself. She simply stared at the crystal clutched in her hand. Jareth watched her with slight amusement, slight worry that she had hurt herself in her tumble. Now that she had opened her eyes she seemed to be refusing to look at him, just staring at the crystal in her hands with a kind of numb shock on her face.  
  
"Sarah, look at me." He said in a plaintive voice.  
  
She shook her head no, just staring at the orb in her hand, looking nowhere else.  
  
This time he commanded it, sharper, a voice that was not to be reckoned with or refused. "Sarah, I said look at me, and I will not take no as an answer." He crossed his arms, and waited.  
  
Her lips trembling, visibly shaking, she slowly raised her eyes up from the floor, up his boots, his pants, 'Quickly up his pants' she thought, to his chest, then his face. She just stared dumbfounded. It was him. Exactly as she had imagined him. His ashblonde hair, wild and ragged, his high cheekbones and arched brows, the air of arrogance around him. His eyes..oh God, blue and brown, one soft and light, one seductive and dark. And his mouth, the perfect mouth with the pointed teeth, and the slight smirk that played on them...'No, he's supposed to be a dream. This isn't supposed to happen' she thought.  
  
Jareth stood there grinning, enduring her scrutiny of him. When she met his eyes he stopped and his breath caught in his throat. 'Damn that green light' he though. He knew her hair was redder, which really meant nothing, but if her eyes had changed too, then it might mean that her old self was trying to break through... Walking towards her he held his hand out for her to take, to help her up. She stared at his hand dumbly. Growling he took her hand and lurched her to her feet, nearly toppling her over again. "Enough Sarah. It's time for us to leave." he said. That snapped her out of it. He grinned when he saw her eyes light up with fire, and that old stubbornness was back again. This was the Sarah he knew.  
  
'Time to go?' she thought. 'There's no way in hell I'm going anywhere.' And she was just about to tell him so when he put a finger over her mouth, silencing her. "No. I don't want to hear a word. You were wished to me were you not? You know how things go. You will come with me, and you will stay with me."  
  
"No! I will not go with you! Your not real! I'm dreaming all of this up and soon it won't matter because I'll wake up and then I'll go to work and I'll realize that this is all...not real. I'm not going anywhere with you..you..you..weirdo!" she rambled. She was nervous and scared and she had not idea what the hell she was doing. And then he looked at her, one eyebrow arched and laughed. 'He's laughing at me!' she thought. 'That pompous ass!' With a growl she kicked him in the shin and ran towards the exit. Before she got three steps he was behind her again, arm around her waist, chest pressed against her.  
  
"That, my dear, was the wrong thing to do." He growled.  
  
Sarah suddenly realized that she was in control, not him. He was just a figment of her imagination, and couldn't control her. "I don't care! I am not going with you, I don't care what you say! First of all, your not real! And second of all, I don't want to!" Struggling she gasped "And for Christ-sake loosen up on the deathgrip! I need to breath!"  
  
Jareth laughed softly. "Oh Sarah, must I show you I'm real?" Turning her around he grinned at her before leaning his face down to hers. This time Sarah was not ready to warn it off and was stopped dead in her tracks by the feel of his lips against hers. They were soft, and it wasn't a kiss like she expected, cruel and demanding, but slow, and soft. It was giving and asked for nothing in return, almost a chaste kiss. Sarah melted, and for the briefest of moments she leaned into it, let him kiss her before she realized what she was doing and pulled back. He held onto her, not as tightly this time, but enough to show her she wasn't getting anywhere. His eyes were darker with emotion and he looked down at her, grinning softly.  
  
"Now do you believe I'm real?" he asked amused, and grinned even wider when he saw the faintest traces of a blush creep on her cheeks. Then the little spitfire was back.  
  
"No! I'm not going with you! I can't! I belong here! I wasn't supposed to be wished away! And I wasn't! It was a mistake!" she screamed.  
  
Jareth simply raise an eyebrow "Oh really?" he asked in that slightly arrogant voice of his. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Of course I'm sure!!" she yelled, struggling to get away.  
  
"Well, the rules are the rules. You will return with me Sarah. Now, don't move... Sarah, I said don't move!" he said forcefully. She stopped for a moment and glared up at him..into his mismatched eyes. 'Why does he have to look so damn good?' she thought... then she was back to struggling again.  
  
"Fine... but when we transport back you may be injured if you move. But have it your way." Reaching down he plucked the crystal she still clucked in her hand from her. She stilled and didn't move, her eyes growing wider and he raised the crystals and let it drop, sending a shower of shards and glitter into the air once more. Sarah felt something come up and swallow them ... felt the press of wind and time and motion all around them. Involuntarily she clutched his jacket...'This is not happening' she thought. She saw the backstage of the auditorium melt around them, and then she screamed, because she realized this all might now be a figment of her imagination...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jareth's looked down at the women clutching to the lapels of his jacket, her eyes wide in panic, her lips trembling slightly. In the lighting of the throne room he was finally able to look at her.... her skin was paler...her hair a dark brown red... if she would only look up at him....She had screamed when they has started to dematerialize and he knew she must be frightened because she was shaking like a leaf. 'Oh Sarah..' he thought 'What ever made you doubt that this was all real, things will only be easier once you accept it...'  
  
Sarah was to shocked to say anything. Looking around her she seemed to be in the middle of a medieval castle...the walls were stone, the floor was stone...it was filthy as well. 'I know this place. But..it can't be she thought, her eyes wide in fear and wonder. Looking around she was the massive throne in the front of the room, the cushion made of deep purple velvet. Behind iron the wall was an intricately carved clock, reading 13 o'clock. 'Oh God' she thought 'Oh no...oh God...' she felt herself fainting, her knees buckling beneath her again. And then, like before, two arms pulling her up, standing her upright. Blinking she looked up into a pair of mismatched eyes...and grew angry. With a cry she pushed him away from her and backed away from him, looking every way ... she looked like a scared rabbit. Clutching at the side of her head she squeezed her eyes shut and spoke slowly to herself "This isn't happening, This isn't happening" she repeated.  
  
Jareth watched her, pity and pain swelling up in him. 'Damn fate' he thought, 'for putting her through this.' He wanted nothing more than to pull her against him, to kiss her, shush her, dry up her tears. It killed him to see her like this. And when she had looked up at him, for a moment he thought she remembered ... but then the anger flashed in her eyes. He had seen her eyes though....they were green. Almost completely, just like they were before. She had to remember something if her body was changing it's self to fit her past life... He wanted to kiss her, touch her, comfort her. But he couldn't. She wouldn't allow it and it might send her further over the edge. Walking towards her and helped her to sit down on one of the steps in the front of the throne room. Rocking back and forth she didn't even notice she was sitting down, but kept shaking her head and rocking on the steps. Jareths simply watched her, waiting to see what she would do next. It had been so long since he had been near her, and the last time she was no more than a child...he didn't know what to expect. Part of him was prepare for another temper tantrum, for the constant 'It's not fair's.' Then she suddenly stopped rocking, and sat up straight. Turning she looked at him straight in the eye, her face set hard, her eyes glaring at him. He sighed to himself ...'It's not supposed to be like this' he thought. 'Surely you didn't expect it to be easy' he retorted to himself.  
  
Sarah stared him down, before asking in a slow measure voice. Jareth was sure it was taking everything in her to control herself. "What do I have to do to get out of here?" she asked simply. She watched him, waiting for a reply.  
  
Sighing, Jareth leaned back some. "Sarah, you cannot leave. There is nothing you can do. You are mine and you will remain here." He watched her reaction. But no tantrum came.  
  
"Why? Before I was allowed to go through the Labyrinth to get Toby? Why can't someone come get me now?"  
  
"Sarah," Jareth said "Toby was a baby. You are not. You are an adult and therefore follow under your own set of rules. You have also been here before, therefore you cannot leave. You have been wished to me, and you are mine to do with as I please." He winced at how that sounded, and was about to correct himself when she spoke up, furious.  
  
"No, I am not yours to 'do with as you please'. I am not supposed to be here. I am being kept against my will by someone who I didn't even think was real, and I'm stuck here! I am not here to do as you please! I want to go home!" she stormed. She was lost...she didn't know what to do. All she could think of was to sit and cry...but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.  
  
"I know you don't want to be here Sarah," Jareth stated. "But weither you want to or not the fact is you are here. I promise no harm will befall you while you are with me. You will not be here to 'do as I please.' That came out wrong. But you were wished to me, and unlike before I do have power over you. This is not your world and these are not your laws. I will tell you simply: If you chose to leave the gates unaccompanied by me you are at the mercy of whoever finds you, because after you leave I cannot claim you. Do you understand?" he softened "You will be safe here. I promise. You have my word."  
  
Sarah sat staring off into space. 'I'm stuck in another world with a man who kidnaps children... I can't get home. I might not ever see home again. All I want to do right now is scream. And why is he being so nice?? He's supposed to be the bad guy. God...things aren't supposed to be this confusing.'  
  
Jareth saw the lost look in her eyes and decided not to press her further. Standing he offered her his hand, but she ignored it and rose to her feet on her own. "I am tired" he said "and I am sure you are. I will escort you to your room, and there you may retire for the night." Without another word to her he walked from the throne room out into a stairway and up them. Sarah followed, only because she had no other choice, and she was afraid to be left alone in the huge expanse of the castle.  
  
'Maybe I can sneak out of there, or something ... a room is better than that slop down there.' As they walked up the flight they reached a hallway. Sarah stopped. It looked nothing like the throne room below....it was so...clean and regal. Underfoot was an extravagant carpet, a deep crimson red lined in gold. The walls were heavy with tapestries depicting scenes of maidens and unicorns, and paintings in gilded frames of gold and silver ... the doors to the rooms along the hall were carved from a dark wood...decorated with vines and roses and fairies and nymphs. She walked behind Jareth, her mouth agape, to shocked to say anything. They walked up another set of stairs, and another, taking turns and twist and more stairs until Sarah was thoroughly lost. Then she walked into something hard and looked up to see Jareth has stopped and she had walked right into him. She glared at him to hide her slight embarrassment and he simply looked down at her, a mixture of emotions that Sarah could not decipher running though his eyes.  
  
"This is your room" he said. "Mine is down the hall, if you need anything..." he stopped and looked at her, then opened the door to let her in.  
  
Refusing to look at him Sarah walked into the room...and gasped. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. If it had wall, she could not tell, because they were covered with a blood red velvet that surrounded the whole room. On the far wall was a balcony that opened up to the night... a vanity sat against another wall, exquisite...cared from cherry wood, the mirror at least 4 feet wide ... the boreder a tangle of roses and vines. On it sat an assortment of bottles and jars in all shapes and sizes, holding various things. A brush and hand mirror set sat on it as well, and further inspection showed that they were a pure, dusky gold. The room had not one, but three wardrobes in it, all carved in the same manner at the vanity, all with the same roses and vines in cherry wood. A small table sat in one corner next to an elaborately carved chair next to a window. Her eyes were drawn to a back room, wear she guessed the lavatory was. Then her eyes feel on the bed. At least 12 feet tall it was huge ... the four post were as thick as her leg, all carved with detailed roses, vines, fairies, and a multitude of enchanted things. The bed was surrounded by sheer red lace, and she saw a tiny set of steps that led up to it...the sheets were blood red, with rich gold brocade on it. The pillows, the vast amount of them, ranged in size from small to large, all in red silk or lace. Sarah stood with her mouth open, gazing at the beautiful things all around her. Then she remembered wear she was. Turning she looked at Jareth standing in the doorway. Under any other circumstances, she might feel sorry for him. He looked tired, and his eyes held a deep sorrow....'But these aren't normal circumstances' she reminded herself. Walking to the door and gritted her teeth. "Goodnight." she said shortly, and was prepared to shut the door in his face when he pushed his hand against it and looked at her.  
  
"We will talk in the morning Sarah." he said. 'Commanded' Sarah thought, and her blood boiled. "And remember what I said, should you leave the castles gates I will not be able to protect you. This is real Sarah. The sooner you accept it the easier things will be on you. I hope you remember that." He took his hand off the door, but she didn't close it. She stood glaring at him, murder in her eyes. Jareth calmly waited for what he knew was coming. 'It's not like you don't deserve a little of it' he thought. He had been a little harsher than he meant to be, but he couldn't very well go around with his feeling on his sleeve right now could he? Not with Sarah in the mood she was in. Looking at her he shivered slightly...she looked so much like...  
  
"You have just told me that I am stuck here. I can do nothing to win my freedom and return home. Then you tell me I am practically under house arrest. And then, if that isn't enough you tell me I need to accept it all so it will be easier on me. Your insane! I am not supposed to be here, trapped away from home with someone I hate! I hate you!" she threw at him vehemently. Jareths eyes swirled darkened, and sorrow filled them up ... he looked like he was engulfed in pain ... and for a moment Sarah felt remorse for what she had just said. For a moment she wanted to take it back, to say she was sorry, to kiss all his pain away...'Whoa.' she thought 'Now wear the hell did that come from? He deserves everything I throw at him.'  
  
Jareth looked down at her, his expression pained. Whispering softly he looked at her steadily, pain evident in his soft features, "Then that is something we will remedy." Turning away he walked down the hall, and left her standing there, alone and afraid, with her world turned upside down and feeling like she was no longer in control of anything that happened turned her anymore...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Shutting his door shut with a forceful shove, Jareth stood in the middle of his bedroom, pain evident on his face. His whole body felt cold, like someone had dashed him with ice water, and his heart was a lump in his chest, choking him. When she had said that she hated him, he didn't believe her. He assumed it was a reaction from everything that she had just been through, but then he had looked at her eyes and saw nothing but anger and fire and hate burning in them. Then he knew she really meant it. In that moment his hopes of a mildly happy reunion were smashed to pieces. This was going to so much harder than he had bargained for. 'You set yourself up for disappointment by assuming she would remember anything to begin with.' he told himself. Rubbing his temples he closed his eyes. He had a massive headache, and he was completely drained form bring Sarah back. Popping his knuckles he walked over to a plump, overstuffed chair in the corner of his room. He smiled, Sarah had one just like it, although his was not red but a midnight black. He had seen how Sarah had reacted towards her room, that look of almost childish wonder and excitement that passed over her face. Then she had remembered him and tried to hide it.  
  
He sighed and took the black jacket off, laying it over the back of the chair, leaving him clad in his boots, breeches, and white poet shirt. Sitting down on the chair, he was in the process of removing his boots when there was a rap at his door. He shoved his foot as quickly as he could back into his boot and almost fell on his face trying to get to the door, thinking maybe it was Sarah. Maybe she had come to apologize. He grinned. He would have to fight back from kissing her senseless. With a huge grin plastered on his face he opened the door ... only to be greeted by a man dressed in gray breeches and black boots, and a simple gray shirt that buttoned up the front, with a large collar and pointed cuffs. The edges of the cuffs were embroidered with tiny feathers, which were also stitched around the button holes and collars of his shirt. Jareth's smile fell and he turn back into his room, grumbling. "Come in Lucfiel." he mumbled, and plopped back down in the chair, beginning to take his boots off again.  
  
Lucfiel laughed and walked into Jareth's room, shutting the door behind him. "I take it from your reaction that it wasn't me you were hoping to see?" he said with a slight grin. Jareth shot him a scorn, which only made his laugh again. "I assume she is comfortably settled in then?" he inquired.  
  
"Yes. She is." Jareth's reply was short, clipped. Agitation was obvious in his voice.  
  
"Did things not go as planned Your Highness?" Lucfiel asked, his eyes darkening. Jareth was his king, but his friend also. He worried for him, especially now, with things becoming worse in the Underground, and the arrival of this girl....  
  
"No, and yes. She is here, which is all that matters for now. But I had hoped she would be more...cooperative with the situation. Oh what the hell, I was hoping she'd remember everything as soon as she saw me so I wouldn't have to make everything so hard." he grumbled. "But things didn't go as expected there. It seems she had convinced herself that all of this," he sweeped his hand around the room "wasn't real. That she had just made it all up." He left out the bit about Sarah saying she hated him. Even though Lucfiel was his best friend, he still had his pride. "So now I don't know what to do." Sighing he put his head in his hands.  
  
Lucfiel looked at his friends with remorse and pity. He knew how much Jareth loved this woman... he knew first hand. How Jareth had gone eons without her, wanting her, needing her. He was there when they had been pulled apart and cast down ... It has been apparent that God had other plans for the two lovers.... He shivered thinking about it, the images of that time flashing through his mind. For the time being he pushed those thoughts aside. Jareth needed guidance, and he would be here for him. Clearing his throat he spoke "Well.. she hasn't been back here in 13 years, and she was only a child when she was here, so it's only understandable that she might have convinced herself that this was all pretend. Just look around you Jareth. You don't see things like this Aboveground."  
  
Jareth looked around his room, almost identical to Sarah, though were hers was red and gold, his was black and silver. The intricate carving on the furniture were not of fairies and flowers like Sarah's, but of owls and goblins. The other feminine aspects of Sarah's room were not obvious in this one either. The velvet remained, but the lace and silk were gone, replaced with brocade and linen. On the floor were fur rugs of black... outside his balcony lay the rest of the Underground... the Labyrinth, the Enchanted Forest, the Bog.... no, he supposed there wasn't anything like this Aboveground. Lucfiel saw that Jareth understood, and kept going...  
  
"Also, she was taken from her home, and has no way to get back. She's back in a strange place, that she thought was imaginary up until this point and she can't even contact her family. She's going to be out of it for a little while Jareth. Just give her time to adapt before you tell her anything."  
  
Jareth nodded, deep in thought. He finally spoke "I'll give her a few days... let her get settled and get used to everything. As much as she can anyway. Then I'll start talking to her, trying to see if she remembers anything. I do need to have her measured for clothes though... she can't go around in what she's wearing for they next couple of days... Which reminds me..." Standing up he walked to the door and pulled a silver rope that hung to the side of it. Though it couldn't be heard form his room, far below in the castle a bell rang, letting the servants know their king needed something. In no time three goblin servants dressed in beige clothes arrived at his door. Upon their arrival Jareth gave them his inscriptions.  
  
"We have a visitor who will be staying with us a while. Therefore she will require a new wardrobe, and I'd like her measured and it started by tomorrow. Dresses, pants, shirts, nightgowns, everything. But I want everything checked over with me first. Is this understood?" The goblins nodded, and said they would start first thing in the morning, and turned to leave before Jareth remembered something else and called them back. "She will need a nightgown tonight, and a dress for tomorrow. I'm sure you can find something suitable enough for one day. Also see that she is assigned a maid to tend to her room. That will be all." With a curt nod he dismissed the goblins, shutting his door behind them. His manner with Sarah and Lucfiel may be warm and civil, but to his servants it was curt and short. He was not a bad king, and his subjects liked him, but he knew friendliness to servants would result in a poorer quality of service in his kingdom. Sighing he turned back to Lucfiel, exhaustion written all over his face. Seeing this Lucfiel took it as his cue to leave, and told Jareth to rest well, and just wait it out before he excused himself from the room.  
  
Jareth walked back over to the chair and sat down. His eyes burned and his vision was fuzzy. He need to rest badly. Removing his boots he sat them down on the floor next to the chair, and slid his poet's shirt over his head, exposing his bare alabaster chest, the silver pendant hanging in the middle of it. Standing he made his way to the bed. He knew something was wrong, that the gate must be getting stronger if he were this tired from just one trip to the Aboveground. Pulling back the brocade coverlets and linen sheets he crawled into bed and situated himself. Staring at the blackened ceiling he felt sleep slowly take him over, his body relaxing, his stress temporally leaving him. As he drifted off his last thoughts were of a woman, right down the hall from him, so close and yet so far away. He whispered her name softly before lapsing into sleep.  
  
"Sarah...."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Sarah stood pacing back in forth in her room. She was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep, her mind was moving to fast. She had thoroughly explored her room as soon as Jareth left her, but that had only occupied her for a short amount of time. She had been disappointed to see that there was no plumbing in the castle, but knew she should have expected as much, considering how old it appeared to be and where she was. In the chair in the corner sat her jacket and purse, which she had been carrying when Jareth took her back here. She had her checkbook, money, credit cards, car keys, tons of things that would be of no use to her here. She had her cell phone as well, but it seemed to be dead, probably due to the fact that she was here, God knows how far away from home. She didn't even know if she were on the same planet anymore. Sighing she stretch and her back popped. She was so exhausted ... 'No.' she told herself, 'You need to think about what your going to do." He head was spinning...what about her job? Or her family? 'Oh my God! What about mom and dad and Toby? They'll all think I'll be dead or kidnapped!' She felt sick to her stomach. Holding her hand to her face she tried to block out the image of the police arriving at her house, the look on her families faces.  
  
Just then there was a rapping on her door. Glaring daggers into it she crossed the room, ready to beat the living daylights out of Jareth. How dare he come back to her room! Flinging the door open Sarah looked around and saw no one. The she heard a sound like someone clearing their throat, and looked down. A small woman goblin stood there, holding some kind of material in her hand. Without waiting for Sarah to move aside she pushed her way past her and into her room.  
  
"His majesty told me to bring you some things to sleep in. My names Gwinda, and I'll be your maid. Now if you need anything you ask for me. I'll be back in the morning for some more things for you to wear, but until then you should get some sleep. " she spoke while she walked to the bed, turned down the cover and laid the white material on it. "Well, should you be needing anything I'll be in the kitchen. Just pull that rope next to the door."  
  
Sarah looked at the gold rope hanging there. She was still baffled. She had a maid? Why would Jareth give her a maid? In attempts to make her comfortable? 'Yeah right.' she told herself 'Probably just to remind you that you are under his control now.' The little goblin woman passed her and was on her way out the door when Sarah snapped out of it and cleared her throat, and called after her. "Thank you Gwinda." The small goblin turn around and gave a short nod to her before turning and heading back down the hall. Shaking her head Sarah closed the door, becoming more and more perplexed.  
  
Walking to the bed she picked up the sash of white material that Gwinda had placed on the bed and unfolded it. Her breath caught in her voice. It was a nightgown, made from linen. But it seemed to have simmering threads sown in with it and the cuffs and low neckline were trimmed in ivory lace, tiny pearls sown to it. She suddenly realized how very tired she was, and decided maybe she would just go to sleep for a little bit...just a nap. Walking to the changing curtain she stood behind it to change into her nightgown. She was sure no one would come in here without knocking, but she wasn't about to take any chances. She slid the nightgown down over her head and shivered. It felt wonderful. She pulled her silver spoon pendant out from under her nightgown and held it in her hand. 'I wish I did know how to see the future with this thing...' she thought, remembering how her grandmother could. Walking to her purse she opened it and pulled one of her pill bottles out, shaking 3 pills out. She knew she would need them tonight, in this creepy place. Popping them into her mouth she looked around for a glass of water, and then had to swallow them dry seeing there was none.  
  
Sighing she walked towards the bed and slid underneath the cover, the pills already working. She could feel her limbs getting warm and heavy, and her eyes slowly shutting. Rolling on her stomach she closed her eyes and let sleep take her, trying not to think of anything. Not of Jareth, or where she saw, or her family, or how she would get home. If she would ever get home. She feel into a deep, empty, dreamless sleep. But somewhere in the back of her subconscious a woman sat, waiting for Sarah to remember, her red hair flowing down around her, her green eyes glowing brightly. Laying between her breast, on a thin silver cord was a small pendant. A tiny, silver spoon. 


End file.
